1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to a device which facilitates the proper performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), particularly by untrained or semi-trained individuals and includes the use of at least one alignment device including a disk having indicia formed thereon which indicates the proper alignment of the device on a person""s body as well as the accurate positioning of at least one hand of the individual performing CPR, relative to the sternum of the person on whom CPR is being performed. The disk and associated indicia are adapted to accommodate different sizes and age groups of patients and may further include instructional information relating to performance of the CPR procedure. One or more of the devices may be included in a kit assembly along with other products which facilitate the performance of CPR.
2. Description of the Related Art
By most reliable accounts, the concept and practice of emergency care originated in France, during the period of Napoleon, when medical personnel first began to enter the battlefields for the express purpose of retrieving and providing care for wounded military personnel. From that period on, the principle of providing early aid or emergency medical services to the wounded grew fairly rapidly among the military services around the world. Sometime later, around the mid to late eighteen hundreds, the concept of making emergency treatment available to the general population, rather than just to the military, began to be implemented in various countries throughout the world, including the majority of most of the larger American cities. Of course, the quality and availability of emergency medical aid which was provided was rudimentary by today""s standards. For example, the transporting of the critically ill by horse and buggy was less than a satisfactory means of transportation, but did play a significant roll in the development of the modern day ambulance services, which are called upon to respond to those in acute need of emergency medical services. As American cities continued to grow, the need for better trained medical personnel became evident. In particular, it became apparent that proper response to emergency medical situations required the presence of personnel which were well trained to handle a number of critical medical conditions. Eventually, legislation was passed to require state and municipal agencies to mandate more efficient and capable systems to provide emergency care to the general population.
The providing of medical services and care on an emergency basis has currently developed to the point where such services are almost taken for granted. In recent years a universal telephone number xe2x80x9c911xe2x80x9d has become recognized by the majority of the population, as an emergency call number on which people can rely for immediate response in the treatment of critical or life threatening situations. However, in spite of the significant advances and reliable performance of emergency care services which have developed over the last 150 years, thousands of lives are still lost each year due to the fact that emergency medical treatment was not performed immediately. By way of example, people who experience cardiac arrest must receive immediate treatment, in order for their lives to be saved.
Therefore, there is an increasing effort throughout the United States, as well as most modern, industrialized countries of the world, to make the general population more aware of certain medical procedures which may be performed particularly, but not exclusively, on a person suffering from cardiac arrest. More specifically, the performing of cardiopulmonary resuscitation or xe2x80x9cCPRxe2x80x9d on cardiac arrest victims within the first few minutes immediately following the cardiac arrest attack, is a significant factor in the saving of a victim""s life. However, CPR must be performed correctly and sustained until the patient receives advanced life support procedures by well trained and certified medical personnel.
Currently, an increasing number of people are being made aware of the importance of immediate treatment being given to cardiac arrest victims. As a result, more and more people are receiving at least some training in first aid and/or CPR procedures. Naturally, the better trained an individual is the more prepared that individual would be to help others in a critical or emergency medical situation. However, not everyone has the time or inclination to proceed with a formal training program or become certified by attending classes offered by the American Red Cross, or other medical facilities around the country. Due to the fact that CPR is not an extremely complicated procedure, it is possible to perform its various steps properly and accurately, at least in extremely critical situations, with a minimal amount of instruction, as long as the instruction provided is accurate and effectively presented.
By way of example, cardiopulmonary resuscitation is applied in the following manner. If a person appears to be in cardiac arrest, simple steps can be followed which could result in the saving of a person""s life. As a first step, the victim must be properly evaluated by observing and determining whether the patient is breathing. The individual attempting to apply CPR should place his or her face near the mouth of the victim, while at the same time viewing the chest area to see if there is any movement. Concurrently, the pulse of the victim should be checked preferably by placing the finger tips on the victim""s Adam""s apple and sliding the fingers into the groove immediately adjacent to the windpipe. If there is no response and neither breathing nor a pulse can be detected, a preliminary step would be to arrange for immediate medical services to arrive as soon as possible, such as by calling xe2x80x9c911xe2x80x9d.
In the actual application of CPR the victim is placed flat on his or her back on a solid surface. The individual applying CPR assumes a generally kneeling position by the side of the victim. The victim""s head is tilted backwards simultaneously as the victim""s chin is lifted upwardly. The nose and accordingly the airway associated therewith, is closed by the hands of the individual applying CPR. Two breaths are forced through the mouth of the victim into the lungs, using procedures normally associated with xe2x80x9cmouth-to-mouthxe2x80x9d resuscitation. Two full breaths must be applied to an adult victim while observing a lifting of the victim""s chest, which is indicative of the victim receiving enough air. If available, the individual performing CPR may wish to use some type of breathing apparatus which prevents or at least partially restricts actual mouth-to-mouth contact of the individual and the victim, in order to reduce the possibility of cross-contamination or the exchange of bodily fluids. Next, a predetermined number of xe2x80x9ccompressionsxe2x80x9d are performed on the victim, with at least one hand of the individual applying CPR being properly oriented on the victim""s chest according to the victim""s age. The hands of the individual are positioned in the center of the chest generally on the lower half of the sternum. One hand is placed on top of the other and a downward xe2x80x9cpumpingxe2x80x9d motion is applied to the victims""s chest. Such motion should be a consistent, straight, up and down motion applied to the victim""s chest while the individual performing CPR maintains a kneeling orientation with his or her arms extended downwardly from the upper torso. The chest of the victim should be compressed approximately two inches and the rate of compressions should average approximately 15 compressions followed by two xe2x80x9cventilationsxe2x80x9d or breaths. The ratio of compressions to breaths or ventilations should change depending on the size and accordingly the age of the victim, to the extent that a ventilation is applied to younger or smaller victims more frequently and generally after approximately every 5 compressions.
While the above procedure may initially appear to be complicated, it most certainly could be followed in certain critical emergency situations by most people capable of demonstrating a certain amount of control and calmness in such situations. As set forth above, advanced training is not an alternative to a vast majority of the population. Therefore, there is a recognized need for an instructional aid or device which will facilitate the performance by an individual, who is untrained or only minimally trained, of the various steps comprising CPR. Of course, if any such instructional device were provided, it would ideally also serve as a useful reminder or refresher for those people who are well trained and certified in the administering of CPR, as even some trained persons may become unnerved and perhaps forgetful during an emergency situation. Further, such a device could be incorporated within a kit assembly and thereby associated with other of a plurality of components to further facilitate the performance of CPR, as well as the care and conditioning of the victim and/or the individual performing the CPR procedure, both before and after its application. If any such kit assembly were developed, it would preferably have a compact design so as to be readily stored in rather small but handy places, such as in the glove box of an automobile or boat, etc. or in a briefcase, purse, etc., and further, the components of the kit assembly would ideally be color coded or otherwise coded so as to facilitate and expedite proper use in an emergency situation.
The present invention relates to a device which is structured to facilitate the performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) especially by those individuals who are relatively untrained, only partially trained or fully trained and, as a result may require some type of alignment and positioning facility in order to be properly oriented, relative to a person on whom CPR is being performed. The present invention also comprises a kit assembly including one or more of the alignment devices for a variety of ages, as well as other components or products, which also aids the performance of CPR and/or the associated treatment of a person on whom CPR is being performed. More specifically, the aforementioned device comprises a disk preferably formed of a flexible material and being dimensioned and configured to overlie and engage the frontal area of a person""s body in predetermined, aligned relation to the sternum. In addition, the flexibility of the material from which the device is formed should be sufficient to effectively allow the disk to generally conform to the contours of the frontal body portion, in order that an accurate positioning and/or alignment of one or more hands of one performing CPR, can be directly disposed on the person being treated.
While the disk may have other configurations, one preferred configuration is the inclusion of a circular peripheral edge disposed in surrounding relation to a remainder of the disk and disposed in co-planar relation therewith. The disk, even though it is made from a flexible material, is structured to normally assume a planar configuration and includes, an outer exposed surface and an under surface. One feature of the present invention is the inclusion of indicia formed on the outer surface of the disk in a position which is readily observable. The indicia, depending upon the particular embodiment of the alignment device utilized, comprises at least one alignment indicator and preferably, at least one position indicator. The alignment indicator is dimensioned, configured and disposed on the outer surface in a manner which serves to accurately orient the disk and the outer surface in aligned relation to a predetermined portion of the body of the person being treated. The aforementioned position indicator is cooperatively structured with the alignment indicator and is disposed relative thereto so as to provide an accurate indication as to the location of at least one hand, preferably the heel of one hand, of an individual performing the CPR procedure. Therefore, the cooperative structuring of the alignment indicator and the position indicator facilitate the proper performance of the CPR procedure by aiding an individual in the placement of one of his or her hands, for purposes of applying repeated compressions as part of the conventionally recommended CPR procedure.
Another feature of the present invention is the inclusion of instructional information, which also may define a part of the aforementioned indicia, formed on the outer surface of the disk. The instructional information may comprise specific, step by step instructions in the proper performance of CPR or alternatively may provide a more generalized outline of the various steps required as well as a partially preliminary procedure to follow prior to the actual application of the plurality of compressions/ventilations, which are typically included in the performance of CPR. Such preliminary procedure may include the calling of the universal number xe2x80x9c911xe2x80x9d, the examination of the person being treated to insure that a clear unobstructed airway has been established and to determine whether the person is breathing or not. In addition, the pulse of the person being treated may also be included as a preliminary step to performing CPR.
It should be apparent that different procedures, at least in terms of the ratio of compressions and ventilations applied to a person, is greatly dependent upon the age and accordingly the size of the person. By way of example, a different ratio of compressions to ventilations are recommended for a child, between the ages of 1 through 8 than an adult or a person being older than 9 years. Also, extremely small individuals, such as young infants less than 1 year of age may require a different technique and compression/ventilation ratio applied thereto. Also due to the fact that size of such an infant would be significantly smaller than that of an adult, the aforementioned indicia defining the alignment indicator and/or position indicator may be different from that used with an adult. Therefore, the present invention would most preferably incorporate a plurality of disks, wherein the indicia formed thereon and/or the dimension and configuration of the individual disks are specifically designed for application to a person within a specified age group, which is indicative of the size of the individual.
Accordingly, the present invention preferably also comprises a kit assembly including at least one of the aforementioned disks having indicia formed on an outer surface thereof as well as other components or devices which will facilitate an individual in the proper performance CPR and the care of a person before and after such procedure. Such kit assembly may comprise at least one pair of surgical or examination gloves formed of a latex or other applicable material and preferably having a powder material applied thereto, so as to facilitate the donning of the gloves to the hands of an individual. In addition, in order to avoid contamination and otherwise render the performance of the plurality of repeated ventilations more palatable, a breathing apparatus may be included within the kit assembly. The breathing apparatus may take a variety of different structural configurations including a mask structure having at least a one way valve so as to regulate air flow between the individual performing the CPR and the person being treated.
In addition to the above, the kit assembly of the present invention can include one or more xe2x80x9cwipesxe2x80x9d or towelettes formed from a natural cloth or synthetic paper or cloth material and being infused with antiseptic fluid such as, but not limited to a diluted concentration alcohol or the like.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more clear when the drawings as well as the detailed description are taken into consideration.